| If you want your small business to survive and prosper, | | | | and reliability. |
| you need to spend time and resources to build your | | | | Blatant Promotion |
| brand image. I bet you will agree with me if I say that | | | | Customers hate hype. It's that simple. We don't want |
| image building is really hard to accomplish. Everything | | | | to hear any more exaggerated and misleading claims |
| must be seamless from logo design, brand name, color | | | | that are so typical among online and home TV |
| scheme, tag line to brand promise. But even the most | | | | shopping items. When you say something make sure |
| powerful brands out there will easily fall from grace if | | | | you can back it up. So, choose your tag line carefully |
| they make the following fatal branding blunders, | | | | for they may be your last. When Wal-Mart started |
| deliberately or mistakenly: | | | | using the slogan "Save Money. Live Better" they made |
| Poor Business Identity | | | | sure they deliver this promise by offering lower prices |
| Human beings are visual by nature. We tend to judge | | | | every day and even match lower prices set by their |
| a product or even a person based on how we see | | | | leading competitors. You have to blend creativity and |
| them. The same is true with branding. If you'd like your | | | | capability if you want to make your slogan catchy yet |
| brand to stick into a person's mind remember that | | | | realistic. |
| photos tend to be more memorable as compared to | | | | Poor Internal Training |
| words. Failure to use a consistent visual image and | | | | Many companies are so focused on marketing to |
| logo design to represent your organization is a disaster | | | | customers that they tend to neglect the impact of their |
| waiting to happen. | | | | employees in promoting products and enhancing brand |
| Consistency is vital in making your brand identity | | | | reputation. Do not ever underestimate the power of |
| memorable. Use the same color, logo, tag line and | | | | word of mouth advertising as well as the negative |
| brand name in all your marketing tactics. Promote | | | | impact of disgruntled employees. Take time to train |
| relentlessly to build awareness and retention over the | | | | them to be your walking, talking billboards and reward |
| long haul. Your target market must see and hear the | | | | them for their contributions. |
| same thing again and again until it sinks in. | | | | No Specific Objectives |
| Inferior Product Quality | | | | I believe in the saying "anything that can be measured |
| No branding wizardry can save your business if you | | | | can be improved". Having a grand strategy and |
| fail to deliver your core benefits to your customer. It is | | | | well-defined goals will help you gain better perspective |
| the very foundation of every business and without this | | | | and track your progress. It's imperative to know where |
| you can't stay ahead of competition. A great example | | | | you stand and where you want to go before |
| is the recent Toyota recall. Even its strong brand | | | | implementing any branding initiatives. This is a common |
| reputation can't save the Japanese car manufacturer | | | | oversight among small businesses given its informal |
| from declining sales and massive legal complaints for | | | | business structure. |
| they simply failed to deliver the core benefits - safety | | | | |